The Impossible Stories of the Tea Shop: Mother's Departure
by Eduard Tubin
Summary: Not a great adventure but a series of vignettes about Azula and Karo and how the descision of Lady Ursa to return to the Fire Nation affects their lives. Call it a 'lazy day' story.


**The Impossible Stories of the Tea Shop**

**or**

_**The Departure of the Mother Ship**_

"Ow!" Azula complained as she walked down the stairs accompanied by her mother. "You could have warned me about the family portrait! I _needed_ time to psychologically prepare to spend a half hour standing still next to my brother and Mai. My preparation begins with an airship ticket."

"I told you last Saturday I had scheduled a session with the photographer and I phoned you and left a message with Karo yesterday." Lady Ursa entered the tea shop with a regal authority that made Karo uncertain about his appearance.

Karo sat at a table with a deck of cards in his hand and a cribbage board on the table.

"I remember_ that_ message." Karo scratched his forehead and looked both confused and apologetic. "I spent a half hour looking for a pencil to jot that down and then my mom yelled at me for messing up the kitchen and I forgot about that particular detail. Your mom made an appointment on Saturday morning to have your picture taken. You have to be at the tea shop by nine thirty."

"Grrr!" Azula glared long and hard at Karo and shook her finger. "I'll deal with you later." Lady Ursa had Azula by _her_ collar so Azula knew she had very little latitude of movement. "If Zuko and Mai are supposed to play a role in this portrait; where are the depressing duo?"

"Zuko left fifteen minutes ago to have his hair done. Mai left with him to have herself done up." Lady Ursa explained. "I had hoped you might have decided to dress in a manner more appropriate to a princess and less appropriate to _a Fire Nation tank commander_. I have a dress all picked out for you."

"A what?" Azula looked miserable. "Wait! Will this involve makeup?"

Lady Ursa put her arm around Azula. "I love you but I know you: a tomboy to the core and if I didn't make plans you'd run off down the street and hide in your lab at school. I know you work hard at what interests you and ignore everything else so I hired Katara to help you with your dress and make up."

"Why did you have to forget that message – fanboy?" Azula now looked very unhappy. "If you had warned – uh – told me yesterday I could have prepared myself by dying or taking an airship to Omashu until everyone gives up searching for me."

Karo shuffled the cards in preparation for a game of solitaire. "Have you heard my mom yell? She has the kind of shrill voice that sounds like any one of a dozen pieces of metal cutting equipment. She told me to buy pencils."

"Come on." Lady Ursa hugged her daughter. "We closed the tea shop for the morning and Katara will make you look beautiful." She walked slowly back up the stairs.

"I _did_ remember to buy pencils." Karo shrugged and pulled out a package of a dozen orange pencils. He shuffled the cards and began a game of solitaire.

* * *

><p>Karo took a bite out of his cucumber sandwich. Three hours had passed and it occurred to him that he had <em>never<em> seen Azula in a fancy dress.

"_I have to get out of this thing!_" Azula complained as she entered the tea shop with her mother.

Azula _did _look regal in the fancy Fire Nation dress but looked about as at home in it as a bear in a tuxedo.

"I'll have words with you later!" Azula threatened as she rushed out the back door of the tea shop and thumped upstairs. _"__Four letter words!"_

Lady Ursa sat down across from Karo who politely placed his cucumber sandwich on the plate.

"Have you ever taken Azula out to a high school dance?" Lady Ursa asked Karo kindly.

Karo gulped. "Just as friends...but yeah?"

"Did she ever wear a dress?" Lady Ursa had a frustrated look on her face.

"She doesn't wear dresses." Karo shuffled the deck of cards he had played with all morning long. "As her mother, you must know she has a cantankerous nature and a poisonous temper. As her mother, _you_ can make her do things she doesn't want to do but she can make it an utter and complete pain. You made her wear a dress but I bet you paid a high cost."

"I got an earful." Lady Ursa smiled. "I had two children. They turned out _so_ different. Zuko has a quiet, respectful and sullen way about him. I know he's not happy but he _does __try_ to make me happy. Azula has never met a cuss word she didn't like, has opinions on everything and she has_ that_ temper. I swear bathing cats would be easier than making her wear a fancy dress. At least she's happy with her lot but she's hardly behaves like a princess."

Karo considered this.

Zuko stood at the table. "Mother, Lord Zhao." He bowed

"Huh?" Karo looked around. "Please Fire Lord Zuko!" Karo stood up and bowed. "Don't do that to me! My dad was Lord Zhao. I'm Karo Zhao and only because that's a bad Chinese attempt to pronounce my Suihanese name – Giotto." Karo took his seat. "I hate inherited titles."

"You_ see _mother." Zuko sat down next to Karo. "Azula has acquired her liberal ideas from Karo."

"We live in Ba Sing Se." Lady Ursa answered back kindly. "Azula thinks for herself. You have to come to accept her for who she is."

"Ow!" Karo jumped out of his seat as a crack filled the air.

"A rug and a dry winter day makes for fun for _me_." Azula stood up. "I should have zapped my brother but he has no sense of humor." Azula had her uniform on and had removed the makeup. "I would have played that joke on Lady Mai but she'd stick a knife in my head." Azula glanced around. "Where's Katara?"

"In the kitchen I think." Karo picked up his cucumber sandwich.

"Yes." Azula tented her fingers. "I'll be back." She shuffled off.

"Yeow!" Katara screamed a few seconds later from the kitchen. "I'm going to make you wear a bell!"

* * *

><p>"How are things on the old <em>Tea Shop<em>_ of Love?_" Karo tossed an old street car transfer and a transit schedule on the glass top of the lounge counter.

"Have you had some kind of a stroke?" Azula grabbed Karo's collar. "You forgot to warn me about the appointment to the photographer."

"I honestly forgot?" Karo explained to Azula.

"My mother asked to have a talk with you." Azula let go of Karo's collar. "Methinks you may make a fine groom for the princess."

"Crap. Yet another person I can disappoint." Karo straightened out his collar. "Where is she?"

"In the living room upstairs." Azula cruelly pointed to the back of the tea shop.

Lady Ursa had an imposing presence. Karo was on the short side for a teenager and Azula fit the median for girls. Karo liked Lady Ursa as a person although he disliked the idea of misrepresenting himself in a public venue. He wasn't courting Azula. He had been her closest friend since he arrived as a refugee in Ba Sing Se and he had believed Lady Ursa understood this.

Lady Ursa bowed to him politely.

She had known Karo most of his life. He had indeed become a very handsome young man in his own 'cute' way. He had faint freckles and a hint of red in his hair but had a strong jawline. He had that odd family resemblance and dressed up his hair in the fashion Azula wore. He had a hint of green in his eye and they betrayed a free thinking soul.

Karo placed a package of plantain chips on a small table and bowed.

"You have grown up into a fine, handsome young man." Lady Ursa hugged Karo around his shoulder. "At one time, your father was held in great esteem by my husband. As you might have come to understand; that isn't always a good thing."

"My mom has told me as much." Karo said with a confidence Lady Ursa found odd as he had such a quiet nature. "I have to admit to being a bit nervous and gassy."

Lady Ursa sat down on a fine red couch.

"I have taken much joy in the fact my daughter has found good friends like you, Botan and Katara." Lady Ursa sighed. "She dislikes any kind of deception and refuses to barter her principles. I fled here in order to protect both my children. I came here with Azula because she's a genius but also fragile but I always felt I abandoned Zuko."

Lady Ursa picked up a photograph in a sterling silver frame from the cherry colored wood side table and handed it to Karo.

Karo held the frame in his hands. The photograph was to serve a mundane purpose for the yearbook as a filler piece on the page paying tribute to the yearbook committee. Karo had done much of the artwork and Azula had helped write the tribute articles. The photograph showed Azula and Karo and Karo remembered giving her a small peck on her cheek at the last moment. It was never printed but Azula and Karo liked how it turned out. Karo colored it and gave copies of the finished worked as gifts to his mother and Lady Ursa.

"She looks very happy in the picture." Lady Ursa said softly. "You two look very happy."

"We're best friends." Karo blushed as he looked down at the picture again. "I thought the little peck on the cheek would make for a wonderful picture. Um...you aren't wanting us to make children? I could try but I have one testicle and well...um help me out? Oh goodness I mean only the best by that: the friendship thing, not he testicle thing."

Lady Ursa laughed. "I'll leave that up to you and her."

"She got me through a tough time in my little life." Karo said introspectively as he held the picture in his hands. "As you know, I have a blood disease. At first the doctors thought I had leukemia and I remember how painful the tests were and how helpless I felt."

"I know they can't treat your illness." Lady Ursa apologized. "I'm sorry."

Karo fingered his vest which hid his medic alert pendant. "I have mostly good days."

Lady Ursa smiled at Karo. "I feel protective of her because she's a genius and her gifts are best used to serve the world."

"I see..." Karo blushed again as his nerves kicked in.

"Her father came to me to ask for help to kill Fire Lord Azulon after him refused to name him to the throne." Lady Ursa put her arm around Karo's shoulder. "Azulon died and I had to choose between Azula and Zuko. Azula had a delicate network of wires set up in the palace yard – it's still there as far as I know – so she could listen to the signals sent to the front lines. She had built the set and the antenna herself. I ran to Ba Sing Se with her when he banished me for murdering Azulon. I knew she couldn't survive. I knew Zuko might."

Did you kill the Fire Lord?" Karo asked.

"How very Suihan of you to ask." Lady Ursa sighed. "We both had roles to play. As you might say, _God will judge us one day_."

Karo coughed.

Lady Ursa watched him struggle with this news.

"This...I guess depends on your faith." Karo said slowly.

"I'm leaving with Fire Lord Zuko to help rebuild the Fire Nation. Azula doesn't want to leave her school and she would miss you and her other friends. I spoke with your mother and arranged for her to stay with you. I agreed to pay rent and send her money." Lady Ursa decided to switch the topic of the conversation. "I owe it to my country to help my son. She has good friends here and she's happy."

"How long are you gone for?" Karo stuttered nervously.

"I'll return to Ba Sing Se in about six months." Lady Ursa slapped her lap. "I leave in a week."

* * *

><p>"As the newest member of the House of Zhao, what will my duties encompass?" Azula held a lemon in her hands and began to wire it to the bulb that had once lived in a flashlight. "Your mom does know I work – or fake working on the weekends?"<p>

"I imagine just what they do now." Karo leaned on the counter. "What are you doing with the lemon?"

"I could stay with Iroh but mom said we'd end up killing each other. " Azula fumbled with the lemon and the flashlight bulb came on with a feeble light. "My mom figures since he took care of Zuko while she was in the city with me; she didn't want to give him the job of looking after me. He came here to retire and he's growing older. Your mom agreed that I could stay with you."

"I thought she'd try talking me into attending _Krazy __King __Kue's Balls_."

"We run a family tea shop." Azula said coyly. "While you were talking to my mom; Zuko came up here and asked for tea with a slice of lemon. He told me mom would return with him and his wife to The Fire Nation to be by his side to advise him." She leaned on the counter and watched the flashlight glowing faintly. "I gave him a slice of lemon with his tea out of one and kept this one and made a battery out of it."

"Do you have any plans to ever return to The Fire Nation?" Karo had conveniently forgotten about Azula's royal position. She was the kind of girl to make batteries out of lemons and to make physics look easy; not a royal princess.

"I've been there." Azula set the lemon to one side. "At the _Royal Fire Academy for Girls_, my teachers taught me of the Fire Nation and its long glorious past. They explained how _The Fire Nation_ was the most advanced nation on the planet and the most cultured. Have you ever seen a cherry tree in blossom?"

"I think so?" Karo scratched his head as he wondered where Azula wanted to go with her argument. "I am pleased to eat cherries but I really have no idea how they work."

"Every spring, I have hay fever." Azula explained. "Anyhow you know this. In the grounds of the palace, they have cherry trees. Why? My ancestors liked the blossoms and so each spring I got dragged out to celebrate something called _The Cherry Blossom Festival_ and my allergies went into maximum overdrive." Azula scraped the glass on the counter. "The Suihanese have Oktoberfest. They celebrate the purity of beer and fried food – that makes sense."

"They have no underage drinking laws here either." Karo and Azula had gone to Ba Sing Se Oktoberfest the previous year and managed to dance a good deal but avoided getting totally looped with the other Suihanese patrons. "What are you trying to say."

"I have no plans of leaving." Azula answered back. "We'll finish up our schooling and then maybe go visit the Fire Nation."

* * *

><p>"What could your mother want with both of us?" Karo walked with Azula in the walk between the tea shop and the stone fence. "She calls the school and leaves us this message." Karo held a typed note given to him when the receptionist called both of them to the office. "Lady Ursa called and asked to see both of us. No details."<p>

Azula grabbed a downspout as she slipped on ice. "She leaves next Sunday so maybe she wants to visit."

Karo steadied Azula and they made it to the back door of the tea shop.

"Maybe she's going to hit us both with chloroform and ship us back to the Fire Nation to rule as Fire Lord and Lady." Azula said as she knocked on the heavy wooden door. "I hope not. The palace still has parts of it not wired for electricity. I consider lighting my lamps by hand a primitive custom."

"Do you want to be Fire Lord?" Zuko shivered as he held the door open. He had overheard the conversation.

"Not a chance in Hell." Karo replied honestly. "Sorry to be so abrupt but I just got my life to kind of work so I don't want to screw it up."

"If you had died, I'd have inherited the title." Azula stood in the cold and watched Zuko shiver. "The position has made you _so very happy_."

"My mother leaves on Sunday and we asked you to come over so can you please come in?" Zuko held the door. "She wanted you both to have a chance to meet Avatar Aang."

Karo followed Azula into the back foyer and looked quite uncomfortable.

Azula rubbed her shoulders. "Avatar Aang came here?"

Zuko wore his formal Fire Nation robes of office and wore his formal Fire Nation attitude of office. He had expected Azula to behave properly but this outburst startled him.

"Avatar Aang and I became good friends in the last days of the War." Zuko warmed his hands. "He arrived this morning on Appa the sky bison." Zuko pointed through the window at a huge fluffy creature leaning against the garden shed eating hay.

"Now how could I have missed that?" Karo scratched the back of his head. "The weather is cloudy and minus five and I didn't think I had snow blindness."

"My scientific mind rejects the existence of mystical creatures." Azula stared as she stood next to Karo. "Karo has a mind shaped by the rational teachings of the _Suihan Orthodox Church_ and rejects the existence of creatures who can't play bingo."

"I can play bingo." A coy voice of a young man said from upstairs. "I'm Avatar Aang – you've met Appa."

Aang walked slowly down the stairs holding a small, ornate, rosewood box painted in orange with the amber swirls of the air nomad.

"I came here to ask Katara to take my hand in marriage." Aang admitted to Karo and Azula.

* * *

><p>Azula as ready as ever didn't miss the time to make a smart remark and yet she coughed.<p>

Azula had strung together dozens of lemons with wires and sat at the study hall table and made sparks come out of wires.

Botan worked on a history report but looked at Azula's project and tried to figure out what she was trying to accomplish with lemons.

Karo heard the two words he feared the most.

"Hold this." Azula held out two copper wires.

"Ask someone else." Karo held his pencil up as he worked out a hard trigonometry problem. "Don't you have rats or chimps to test this sort of thing out?"

"A chimp will beat me up if he finds the shock uncomfortable." Azula said with certainty.

Karo took the wires. "Have you single - handed caused a worldwide zinc shortage" Karo jumped. "Ow!"

"I could kill an elephant with a box of lemons." Azula snickered. "Here comes Katara."

"She'll tear me a new one if I shock her." Azula reminded Karo.

"If you were me, would you marry the Avatar?" Katara put her arms around Azula and Karo.

"Ow..." Azula cried out. "If I were you, I wouldn't be electrocuting myself with lemons. I have a metal taste in my mouth."

"We _are _in love." Katara cooed.

"My parents won't even let me date and I'm your age." Botan set her history book on the table. "I think you need time to think. You asked the same woman for advice who has spent the last half hour wiring lemons together."

"Ow!" Azula cried out as a spark crackled. "I was planning to say much the same thing. I don't deny that wiring lemons together marks me as an odd girl. Ow! When – ow – cows bells I can taste something burning."

"My brother will marry and he's only two years older than Karo." Katara reminded Azula. "He has my father's blessing."

"He had to marry Suki because she's in the family way." Azula fidgeted purposefully with her wiring. "A shotgun and an angry father carries great persuasive power."

Katara sat down. "I want to finish school. I know I'm too young but aren't you and Karo going to marry after you finish school? Don't you want a family?"

"Us get married?" Karo pointed at Azula and himself. "How do you feel about that? Should I book the hotel room and week in Blackpool?"

"I'll need someone to help me care for all the parrots I'll own in my old age." Azula countered then gave Karo a stern look. "We have a realm of possible destinations and you pick Blackpool? I can watch you barf off the _Tilt – A - Whirl_?"

"What's wrong with Blackpool? I've never been there and they rate it very highly as a scenic attraction." Karo answered back. "Some of the _Earth Kingdom's _finest vacation in Blackpool."

* * *

><p>"Can you play an instrument?" Azula asked Katara as she sat next to Azula in the band hall. "Band practice has ended and we were just going to leave."<p>

"I love Aang." Katara confided in Azula.

Azula responded with a long buzz on the bassoon.

"We talked about this." Azula placed her bassoon on her lap. "I nearly ended up in Blackpool. Do you know what a place like Blackpool has to offer – concussion inducing rain!"

Karo's oboe sat in the row below Azula and Katara. Karo sat at the baby grand piano standing off to the right side of the stage.

"I have one word to place between man and hood when I look at Karo – gay." Azula told Katara. "I'm a member of gay nation and so is he."

"Your mom told me this much."

"I found another pencil." Karo held up a blue HB pencil like a trophy. "I knew the piano sounded muffled and lacked dynamics." Karo looked down at the keyboard again: "Good Lord there are a lot of pencils inside here!"

"At least Aang has managed to get male pattern baldness out of the way." Azula tried to sound supportive. "No teenager can ever make the right decision at the time these things come up. What you need is time to think clearly about this."

"It's not like I haven't thought about marriage and Aang and these things." Katara explained to Azula. "In the Water Tribe, we're very family oriented."

"I think old pencils and conductor's batons migrate to the piano and die under the keyboard.." Karo said as he fished the tenth pencil and fifth baton out of the piano. He hit the Middle C key on the piano. "Still sounds like crap." He pounded a few more notes and didn't much like what he heard.

"Katara and I are talking about marriage." Azula said starkly. "I know you are a man who thinks Blackpool is romantic."

As compared to what?" Karo held up a baton he had found buried under the keyboard and made a swinging motion with it. "I don't know from romance. Not much call among superheroes for a short thin guy with freckles." He walked towards the girls.

"I thought about asking _your_ mom." Katara said wistfully. "She's a strong woman with strong views."

"I don't suppose she'd steer you wrong but she had an awful marriage." Karo had no nostalgic memories about his dad – only impressions of a vague oppressive figure. "She can inspire fear in Azula and she still wants to visit my dad's grave so she can make sure he's dead."

"She has held on to her bitterness – a good sign." Azula smiled sarcastically.

"Why_ did _your mom marry?" Katara asked Karo as he conducted invisible symphonies. "She started a family with you _and_ she is very fond of you."

"I would really like to know that myself. She explains me as the result of youthful abandon and my late grandmother wanting a grandchild to dote upon." Karo squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. "Grandma passed away when I was about half past toilet training and my mom and I came here."

* * *

><p>"Karo has had faced some difficulties in his life." Katara told Azula as they walked home from the band practice. "He has that blood disease and he has never known his father."<p>

Azula shivered in the cold. "He doesn't know that these issues should make him unhappy."

The dim street lamps cast long shadows as it began to snow.

"I wish my mother was alive." Katara trudged through the snow. "She had the kind of strength and wisdom everyone of my friends thinks I have."

"I wish I had Karo to carry the bassoon case but he had to head off to the store and buy some things for the house." Azula kicked the snow ahead of her as she struggled with her instrument case. "I can't offer you motherly and wise advice _but_ my mother likes to talk about these sorts of issues with young girls. She kept me out of the hands of evil and delivered Zuko from the hands of evil so she has a winning record with her kids." She waited. "I had expected you to say something cutting about what an utter pain I am as a co – worker."

"You sometimes make sense." Katara brushed the snow off the brick wall that surrounded a house.

"Sometimes?" Azula lugged her instrument case.

"I have no doubt Aang is the one I wish to spend my life with." Katara spoke with conviction. "We went through so much together and he's a sweet and decent man."

"I think his spiritual side would irk me but I don't have a spiritual side." Azula hefted her instrument case over her shoulder. "I dabble in the here and now."

"Karo has a spiritual side. He goes to church on Sunday." Katara looked as Azula struggled.

"Church and spirituality are not the same thing." Azula placed the case down and spoke half out of breath. "Karo has a belief in God but doesn't act much like_ He_ plays a big role in his life. Church gives him somewhere to go on a Sunday after reading the paper. Since his mom has always gone, he goes." She waited for traffic to slow and offer her a chance to cross the street. "Want to come in for tea? _Lady Zhao_ will make it – I can't cook."

Katara followed a girl who was 'cute' but also beautiful.

"I have to ask you something." Katara paused and patted Azula's shoulder. "Are you like – into girls like me?"

"Good lord it's cold." Azula pushed the front door. "Why do you ask? You rethinking the Aang thing?"

"Yes." Katara said quietly. "If you'd have me."

"I'm up against the Avatar." Azula let a breath of cold air from her lips. "I love you and always will but let us wait for the Avatar to romance you."

* * *

><p>"I married Karo's father because at the time; both our families had made up our minds for us." Lady Zhao sat at the dining room table with Katara and put a sugar cube in her tea. "I was twenty and my parents decided a marriage to the eldest son of Lord Zhao would secure the military contracts to make them rich."<p>

Both women could hear Azula practicing on her bassoon upstairs.

"Lady Ursa came here three years ago because she couldn't face seeing her daughter suffer the curse of an arranged marriage." Lady Zhao cringed as a typically sour note shook the house. "I fled because Karo wasn't going to become the fierce warrior his father had decided he should become. I didn't want my frail hemophiliac son destroyed by a megalomaniac."

Another goose like honk filled the house.

"I hope to God that wasn't some kind of bodily noise I made. I'm far too young for that kind of death rattle." Azula tromped down the stairs. "I smell sweet potatoes."

"We will have supper when Karo gets back." Lady Zhao reminded Azula. "I have a chicken and sweet potatoes in the oven and Katara will be dining with us."

"Can I have some tea?" Azula walked into the kitchen and fished in the cupboard for a mug.

"How do _you _get along with Azula." Katara asked wryly. "She's going to be staying here while Lady Ursa is away."

"You have to find the _'way of Azula'._" Lady Zhao laughed as she sipped her tea. "I have always found it surprising how at home she is in her skin. She had all sorts of problems as a little girl – color blindness, trouble reading and a nervous stutter. Lady Ursa had to try to make her perfect to please Ozai but she realized Azula would lose badly to the iron will of her father. When you have children, you will find they will try hard to be their own person. You and Aang have to let them have enough freedom to let them be themselves."

Azula had the oven door open. "I love sweet potatoes or is it yams?"

"Within limits of course." Lady Zhao nodded. "Close the oven door."

"I thought you'd be more down, more critical of marriage." Katara watched Azula putter around the kitchen and after she found a mug; place a teabag in it and then pour water from the kettle.

"My husband was evil. I was too young and I had oppressive parents." Lady Zhao leaned in her chair and it creaked. "In my middle age I've seen enough good marriages so my opinion has softened."

Azula wasn't paying attention to any piece of the conversation because she had a large spider in her sights.

She entered into the dining room through the kitchen door with a sense of purpose.

"Have you ever heard it said that_ 'we have nothing to fear but fear itself?_' Azula crouched behind Katara and put her cup of tea on the table. "The speaker was cut off before he could say _'and spiders'_." Azula crouched down. "Go in the kitchen and kill it."

"We are having a conversation young lady!" Lady Zhao admonished. "A serious conversation and I think a young strong and beautiful woman like you can land a rolling pin on a spider."

"Oh not this again! I can hear the radio nature commentator saying in a serious quiet voice: "The male of the geek species mainly has the task of killing spiders as an offering to the female geek." Karo entered through the dining room door holding two paper bags of groceries. "In any event, I got the groceries." Karo walked into the kitchen.

"He died a hero." Azula shouted out from behind Katara.

Karo unpeeled a fresh banana. "I see a spider but I don't really wish to kill it. They eat other nasty bugs like flies and mosquitoes. We don't have malaria carrying spiders."

"What are you doing?" Azula asked.

"Eating a banana." Karo said calmly and put a half eaten banana on the counter. "I'm watching this thing to see if it will continue to walk toward you or join its coven back behind the icebox."

He rummaged through the baking pans in the drawer beside the sink.

"We'll talk more – if you want." Lady Zhao smiled. "What _are you doing _Karo?"

"I found a baking pan and I'm marching the little creature toward the basement step as best I can." Karo answered back. "Maybe Azula can fetch her bassoon and play a nice march in a rhythm suitable for an eight legged creature."

* * *

><p>"<em>You signed me up for hosting Wednesday Night Bingo<em>. I have to get you for this; and _I will_." Azula sat beside Karo and had the task of cranking the bingo ball cage. "Do you really need someone else? Am I the only one capable of randomizing balls?"

"Our pastor wanted two trustworthy people." Karo watched the crowd of thirty some odd people sitting at folding tables in the gym.

"Who invented Bingo?" Azula cranked the handle of Bingo ball cage. "More to the point, why does your church have a _Wednesday __N__ight Bingo_?"

"Under the 'I' 37." Karo called out. "I 37."

"We need a new roof. We have a huge tarp we have to pull over the old roof when it rains or the choir gets wet." Karo looked out over the gymnasium of the church as people dabbed or marked their cards. "We also have the Youth Group room which now uses three cable spools as tables and the daycare needs the asbestos taken out of the walls. Take comfort in the joy of doing the Lord's work."

"So God made the human race to supply free labor?" Azula cranked the brass ball cage.

"We're macrophages _in the body of the church_." Karo picked up the pink ball that fell out of the machine. "You could be at home complaining that my mom keeps the house too cold and arguing with her over the thermostat settings."

"Under the 'N' seven." Karo called out. "N – 7!"

"Bingo!" An elderly lady three tables from the back of the gym waved her cane.

"Now go and check the lady's card and give me the thumbs up if she won." Karo asked Azula. "We'll check your card ma'am."

Azula walked over to the lady and examined the card and gave two thumbs up.

"We have a winner." Karo cleared his throat and sipped from a class of ice water. "I'd like to thank everyone for turning out for Wednesday Night Bingo on behalf of The Northwood's Orthodox Church. Godspeed and God Bless."

Azula walked behind the elderly lady as she came to collect her winnings which came down to twelve pounds and change.

Karo counted out the winnings and wrote out a receipt.

"Congratulations." Karo smiled.

"You are such a nice young man." The old lady smiled. "See you next week."

"Did you know the church has a Geisha infestation?" Azula asked calmly.

Karo scratched his head as he began counting the money from the evening of Bingo.

"Are you talking about a kind of rodent using its zoological name or one of those ladies that walks on your back for money?" Karo scribbled down a few numbers on the back of an unused Bingo card with a carpenter's pencil.

"The kind of woman who walks on your back for money." Azula shook her head. "She's coming this way with what looks like some kind of Water Tribe dude."

"Hello?" Karo said politely. "Can I help you?"

The old men and women who played Bingo had never seen a Kyoshi Warrior before and they hung back to figure out what one was.

"Welcome to God's House." Azula glanced at Karo's math and put her finger on a few minor errors. "I'm Azula and the young man who lives in a Universe where two and two equals three is Karo."

"So you're Katara's brother?" Azula put her feet up on a wire spool. "Sokka of The Southern Water Tribe – Katara has mentioned you on many occasions. "

"The Youth Group got another wire spool." Karo noticed as he paced the room. "The youth pastor must work for the phone company or something."

"Youth Pastor Ivar likes the casual look." Azula spoke with some lack of certainty. "What made you come out to Wednesday Night with God or Bingo? I haven't begun to ask all the questions I have about your girlfriend's uniform but it doesn't look like the usual itchy church pants we have to wear when we attend services here."

Karo scratched his back.

"We arrived this morning and wished to pay our respects to her friends and formally invite you two as our guests at our wedding in Kyoshi Island on the last Sunday of December." Sokka held out a green envelope. "We hope you can attend."

"Thank you very much." Karo took a few seconds to figure out that in the Southern Hemisphere, Kyoshi Island would be experiencing summer during the month of December. He looked at the two envelopes.

Every church needed a few obligatory things to make it a church. Northwood's Orthodox Church had the church issue wheezing, overweight janitor who disliked people as a matter of general principle and disliked messy people with a passion.

"You won't make a mess in here?" He asked and wagged his finger. "And Karo – don't forget to double check the doors – you left the back door unlocked last week."

Azula held up a large brass key attached to a silver fish shaped key chain. "We'll make sure everything is safe and sound."

"Got another one of _them_ wire spools." He grumbled. "Gonna go home and listen to the hockey game on the radio then." He grunted. "I think the pastor is still here. Well – see you on Sunday."

"My dad will pick you up in his ship and then bring you to Kyoshi Island." Sokka smiled broadly. "We know Kyoshi Island is very remote but you'll enjoy a comfortable sea voyage with the finest captain – my dad Chief Hakoda."

I appreciate the invitations." Karo began diplomatically as he handed off the envelope with Azula's name to her. "I admit to being flattered but surprised. We're Katara's friends and she's spoken highly of both of you but we've never met either of you."

"I lead the famous Kyoshi Warriors." Suki bowed to Azula and spoke in a stilted, formal way. "We came to visit with the Avatar and announce our wedding to our friends in Ba Sing Se. Katara was my best friend during the War and we've remained close friends. She has made good friends in you and she'd like to have you attend our wedding."

"Famous you say?" Azula tried to lean back and recline on one of the smaller wire spools that did double duty as a chair and fell over. "I'm going to say a rude word – _now_."

"Aren't you a province of Nipponia now?" Karo had met Nipponese ex – patriots and never fully understood the difference between the Kyoshi Islanders and the Nipponese. "You speak the same language – don't you?" Karo walked over and helped Azula to her feet.

"The referendum will be held in three months and the 'yes' side has a large lead." Suki sounded subtly displeased with this news. "We _do not_ speak Nipponese!" Suki looked at Karo with annoyance.

"Whoa! We don't know much about that part of the world except what the papers tells us." Azula stood up and brushed her vest. "Katara told me about her adventures and about brave Sokka her brother and his lover Suki the leader of the great Kyoshi Warriors." Azula sat on the largest wire spool and it wobbled as she sat down. "Your gang fought the oppressive Fire Nation and brought down the Empire of Evil." Azula used her hands to steady the wire spool. "Karo and I spent that time in school and eating spray cheese on crackers. You saw me fall on my hindquarters and so I feel a bit inadequate around her super hero friends."

* * *

><p>"Once on Kyoshi Island was a lonely goat heard." Azula checked the back doors of the church. "Yo - del – led -ee – ay -dee – yay -ee – hoo.i"<p>

"Stop that please," Karo rubbed his shoulders, "Musicals make me long for deafness."

"Not everyone can finds it easy to sing Bach." Azula pulled on the brass door handles because in spite of her confidence in her intellect; she had grave doubts about performing ordinary tasks. She taunted Karo about singing because he possessed a delicate and beautiful tenor voice but he felt shy about singing. Katara had heard him singing a Bach Cantata _'Rejoice in God in all the Lands'_ and told Azula that if God did exist; He sang in that voice.

"Home, no more to me wither must I wander." Karo walked beside Azula and lent his voice and melodic inspiration to a poem. "Hunger, my driver I go where I must."

Azula knew that poem. Refugees from the Fire Nation had sung the song in Suihan as they sat in mud in Earth Kingdom refugee camps. While the War had destroyed their homes, the young Azula found herself impressed by their poems and the expressive breadth of their words. When she had arrived with her mom and taken ownership of the teashop using money they had smuggled out out of the Fire Nation to purchase it, she met at school and he explained he was her cousin. She soon became his best friend because he was a kind person and yet he had come out of the Fire Nation. He loved the beautiful and true and he loved music and art – she had thought that impossible in a Fire Nation noble. She had learned the _Cantatas of Bach_ by going to church with Karo – and _Ursa did not object._ She often had wondered if the reason the Suihanese were such anemic fire benders was that they were descendants of air benders. They loved music, had a Saint who wrote music and sang in church.

"_I'm not evil because of you_." Azula said to Karo as he finished the song.

Karo blushed. "I think you made that decision yourself." He felt Azula put her arm around him. "Don't take offense. Each day of his life Ozai went to bed and slept soundly not worrying about what he did to anyone else. If you had to act like your father and do his bidding, you'd go mad because you have a good soul and if you had to fight such forces; you'd go insane under the burden."

"I'm sane because of you?" Azula felt the cold and hugged Karo's shoulder.

"You'd slug me if I said _'sane __would__ be pushing it'_." Karo didn't feel a slug to his shoulder. "Anyone can do evil. I'm haunted by my father. He did evil...but maybe hope saved him."

"He died when he refused to allow Zuko to rescue him." Azula told Karo. "In the Fire Nation culture, being touched by a disgraced person is disgraceful to the point of death."

"I know." Karo sighed. "He likely came to think much the same of me."

"If I had done evil because I was mad, would God judge me?" Azula asked as they turned toward the town home where they lived. "I mean as evil?"

They crossed the street.

"You are petulant – not evil." Karo fiddled with the church keys. "I don't know about your father. The problem with religion is that it forces you to judge people before they have been judged by the final authority. I have the same problem with my father and so I can't tell you for sure." Karo fiddled with the lock on their house. "I can think of two reasons why you're not evil. You are still fourteen and young. You have no interest in war or conquest or power – they all could have been yours if you followed your father as the princess. You should never forget that. Enjoy youth and leave the big hard questions for old age."

Azula pushed open the door of the house

"You _haven't _done anything wrong." Karo dusted the snow off his clothing. "I don't know if there is a judgment one day but don't you think life would be filled with guilt and misery if all you did was live in fear of being judged at the end of it?"

"I have dreams." Azula brushed the snow off of her clothes.

"And?" Karo asked. "What happens?"

"I imprison Suki and hunted down my brother and his friends." Azula said sadly. "Even worse things."

"You could have done that if your father controlled you." Karo answered softly. "You were still young. We can be tortured or abused into doing many awful things. The War is over and you didn't do things like this." Karo brushed the snow off Azula's robes. "The fact you caare about being a good person counts too."

* * *

><p>"Ow." Karo complained. "What other man in the history of history ever had to pluck his eyebrows?"<p>

"Why are you the only guy who cares?" Azula peered past Karo to examine her face in the mirror.

"Mom told me to pluck them because – and I quote – _I don't want a son who has brow ridges like a Neanderthal_." Karo grasped the tweezers. "I told her Azula snores like one; yet you never say _anything!_ She handed me the tweezers and told me to pluck them before going out in public."

"Neanderthals may have been sophisticated hunter gatherers and perhaps my snoring pays homage to them." Azula puckered her lips ass she looked over Karo's shoulder into the mirror. "I view your eyebrows as a testament to the tenacity of life."

"Huh?" Karo plucked and winced.

"I didn't think they'd grow back after _The Lithium Incident_ but they came in more vigorous and fluffy than ever." Azula puckered her lips as she applied lipstick. "Do you have freaky hair growing any other places?" She looked in his ears and at his nose reflected in the mirror.

"You taught me a healthy respect for alkali metals." Karo plucked out another hair. "It took us three tries to explain to mom how we you lost our eyebrows."

"We're going to be late for your mother's send off." Lady Zhao announced from downstairs. "I still have to get ready."

"You look fine." Azula patted Karo on the back. "Your Java man ancestors would be proud."

"Has my son plucked his awful eyebrows?" Lady Zhao made a demand. "When you're done, I need the bathroom!"

"Yes." Karo walked away from the mirror. "Nearly – I've got a few stragglers left."

"Come on..." Azula opened the bathroom door.

"Are you two going to your mother's farewell dressed like_ that?_" Lady Zhao met them in the hallway: "You two can't go to your mother's tea dressed in your regular clothes – it would show disrespect."

"No one said I had to wear a dress." Azula complained. "Dresses and winter don't work well together because the arctic air passes through them."

"I want you – young man – in your best Fire Nation robes." Lady Zhao wagged her finger at Karo. "We will meet and greet many important people and you two have to dress to greet guests." She walked into the washroom and closed the door. "I don't hear you two getting ready!"

"I'm going to wear boxers under the dress." Azula grumbled. "Well – you get ready. I need to brace myself for the dress."

"I can hear you. You don't have to wear a dress – you do have to dress up!" Lady Zhao shouted through the door. "You have some very nice Fire Nation formal robes and I think you're a very beautiful young woman and you could make a lasting impression if you'd try being a young woman once in a while."

* * *

><p>"Stupid, itchy formal Fire Nation pants." Azula griped to Karo as she took her seat at the head table. "What are these things made of – steel wool or asbestos?"<p>

"The robes look very nice on you – you make a classy statement." Lady Zhao consoled Azula. "Karo has the same clothes and hasn't complained."

"Karo never complains."

"You more than make up for him." Lady Zhao retorted sharply. "Now sit still and enjoy yourselves."

Karo, Azula and Lady Zhao sat at the head table with Zuko, Lady Mai and Lady Ursa. Iroh sat to Azula's left and Lady Zhao felt some unease at the prospect of having Azula and Karo sitting with such finely behaved royals. Uncle Iroh and Katara had spent the day preparing the tea house for the farewell dinner and the tea house was done up like a fine Fire Nation dining hall.

Zuko stood up, adjusted his Fire Nation robes and cleared his throat.

"I'd like to welcome everyone to my mother – Lady Ursa's farewell dinner." Zuko announced clearly and with an odd degree of confidence Azula didn't expect. "As you know she's leaving for the Fire Nation to advise me on my role as Fire Lord."

Azula wondered who had chosen the blue and white gingham table cloths. She thought she had a good idea of the linens that belonged to the tea house and she didn't recall the blue and white gingham. She watched the red candle placed between her and Karo's table setting as it burned and sputtered.

"As you know, my mother left and fled to Ba Sing Se with my younger sister – Princess Azula." Zuko sipped from a glass of water. "They founded this tea shop and made it into a success."

Azula poked Karo in the side.

Karo stifled a yelp. "Can you please leave me out of any scheme you have planned. If we make a scene; my mother will verbally scalp us. Your mom will bury us alive in unmarked graves." He whispered quietly. "Zuko's speaking."

Lady Zhao and Lady Ursa looked down the table at Karo who blushed apologetically and at Azula who shrugged.

Azula placed a small bright red spring loaded dart cannon behind the candle on the table where she thought no one would see it.

Zuko cleared his throat. "Of course I must introduce my sister who spent the last three years keeping my mother company." He motioned to Azula who blushed with a combination of lack of confidence and a touch of anger. "I give you my sister Azula."

Azula grasped the cannon in her hands and looked out over the collection of people sitting at banquet tables in the main hall of the tea shop.

"In Suihan, the phrase_ 'my brother will pay dearly for this'_ actually means something." Azula stood up and spoke softly to Karo. She wondered what she could say as she sheepishly stood up at the table. "All good public speaking begins with practice and a clear, well designed logically organized set of notes. I haven't even had the time to write something down on a napkin and now I have to say good bye to my mother." Azula fidgeted with the cannon. "I have not had any time to organize my thoughts since no one told me I had to say anything. I could begin with a brief lecture on the practical uses of molybdenum."

Azula could sense people staring at her across the dimly lit tea shop.

"I suppose you might wonder why I have this toy cannon." Azula placed it on the table in clear view of everyone.

Azula looked around the room and Sokka raised his hand.

"It's made of molybdenum?" He answered.

"_The thing isn't made of molybdenum_; but I'll give Katara's brother some credit for knowing about molybdenum." Azula hissed. "_Good Lord_ some people should not breed!"

"I've had it from the time I was a little girl. When we left in the middle of the night to flee the Fire Nation, this toy was the only one I could take. I have no reason why I kept it except that I remember Uncle Iroh gave it to me as a gift from The Earth Kingdom. We spent time in a refugee camp but things did come out for the best because my mother had strength and so here we are."

* * *

><p>"So it was your idea to have me give a speech at my mother's farewell dinner!?" Azula had Karo in a headlock as they tumbled under tables. Azula had strategically waited until most of the guests had left to leap on Karo after he had revealed that Zuko and his mother had thought she ought to say something at the farewell dinner. Karo knew about this but had no real incentive to tell Azula because she would have made his life difficult. As soon as most of the guests had left, finished milling around and engaging in causal conversation, the fight began.<p>

"I think this had to happen to balance the Universe in some way." Katara sighed to Zuko as they stood and watched the action.

"I didn't have any role in planning it!" Karo pleaded. "I thought it would be a sweet gesture but I only heard of it from my mother and I didn't think you'd care! Let go of my collar!"

"How often do they fight?" Lady Zhao leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. "Will this be something I'll have to deal with on a daily basis because I'll tell you right now, I'll have them both fixed."

"I have some note paper for preparing a speech! It has your handwriting!" Azula rustlked the paper in frustration. "You wrote – and I quote – things for Azula to mention!" Azula had Karo by the collar as he attempted to get away. A tea pot hit the ground and smashed to the floor along with some silverware.

"I took some note in case you had to give a speech." Karo pleaded as he crawled under a table. "I didn't know you had to give a speech at that time."

"_Eat it! Eat it!_" Azula commanded as she rolled it up into a tight paper ball.

"If I wasn't lucky enough to flee, I usually had eaten a bug by now." Zuko hung off Mai's arm. "I think she thinks of Karo as a more compliant and easier to beat up little brother."

Lady Ursa was a physically strong woman and had tangled with Azula on many occasions so had some experience in dealing with this sort of behavior. She walked over to the both of them and stood over them with her hands on her hips.

She grabbed Karo by his collar and Azula by her collar and placed both of them over her shoulders in one quick movement.

"Stop it." Lady Ursa commanded. "In the past, I would put both of you in different corners and let you think about what you have done wrong. Is this anyway for anyone to behave let alone two friends!?" Lady Ursa hit a high stentorian tone.

Lady Ursa approached Lady Zhao with a good measure of royal dignity.

"I will miss both of you." Lady Ursa kissed her daughter's head and then kissed Karo on his forehead. She carried them to face Lady Zhao. "Azula can be a handful and right now she's working out how to deal with the fact she'll miss me terribly. She never was good at expressing her feelings so she can act out sometimes."

"Let me know if you have any plans to sign me up for anything else." Azula growled but found she had little latitude to move under her mother's grasp.


End file.
